Luke 1:57-80

Be Still: Jesus our Redeemer, please transform my heart and my mind through your Word today. Amen

Read: Luke 1:57-80

His mother spoke up and said, ‘No! He is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who has that name.’ Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’ (v60-63 NIV)

Encounter: In 2024, 13 babies in the UK were called Zechariah, and 304 called John. In today’s passage we see the moment Zechariah and Elizabeth take their baby to be circumcised. The assumption is that they will call the baby Zechariah, in line with Jewish tradition, until Elizabeth spoke up and said, ‘No! He is to be called John.' There is clearly a bit of confusion as to why they're not going for a family name, and so they defer to Zechariah who confirms the name 'John' on his little tablet he’s probably been carrying around for the last nine months.

In this ordinary ceremonial moment, we see a beautiful moment of obedience. Elizabeth and Zechariah choose obedience, over following the customs or traditions. What I love particularly is that the instruction to name him John was given privately to Zechariah, who passes it privately to Elizabeth, and yet here they are publicly choosing obedience. They could so easily have glossed over that part of Gabriel’s message because no one else heard or saw the moment, but they chose to stand publicly for what was spoken to them privately.

Apply: Are there things in your life where you know you need to make that choice? Are there things God has spoken to you about in the secret place that you need to display publicly? Or things where you need to choose obedience over tradition, custom or cultural norms.

Maybe your next step is to share with someone close to you, like Zechariah did with Elizabeth. Obedience on our own is hard, but when we share it with others, we at least have a teammate who can confirm on their metaphorical writing tablet ‘she’s right - this is what we’re doing because the Lord said so.'

Devote: God, I want to be obedient to you in private when no one else is watching, and publicly, despite what others might say or think. Show me in big ways and little ways what it looks like today and every day to choose you over everything and everyone else.